By Jeromy Corrigan

Dawson Creek & Fort St.John rumoured destinations for WSHL

Jan 26, 2018 | 8:10 AM

A new hockey league could be on the way to the Peace Region

The Western States Hockey League is dubbed as Junior A Tier II, with the competition being somewhere between Junior A (AJHL), and Junior B (NWJHL).

In early January, the league announced for their 25th anniversary, they will be expanding into Canada and creating a Canadian division.

 “A group came to us last year during last hockey season. We have been working on it with them since then to do this right and come in with at least six well-located teams in the Northern portions of Alberta,“ explained Ron White, President of the Western States Hockey League.

They are also looking at locations in North-Eastern British Columbia, and North-Western Saskatchewan.

The league has been looking at expansion for quite some time prior to the announcement of the Canadian division, but it was something they did not want to rush.

“We want to make sure we get the right owners, the right locations, the right venues, and good community support, “added White.

The WSHL is under the “pay to play” format which has it’s players pay “tuition” each year.

This is to help pay for ice time, officials, travel, hotels, and more.

Players in the United States would pay anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 a year.

However, White believes players who join the Canadian markets will see their tuition being less than players in the United States due to the rinks in Canada mostly being owned by each respective municipality.

One attribute which makes the Western States Hockey League different than other Junior leagues is the fact over 25 countries from around the world are represented.

“We are definitely an international league as far as our players go. We are probably anywhere from 35-40 percent of our players being from a foreign country,” revealed White.

In these numbers, Canadians are not included.

As of right now there has been no formal announcement of where the first six franchises in the Canadian Division will be located, however, some communities have been rumoured.

This includes Morinville, Cold Lake, Whitecourt, Fort St.John, and Dawson Creek.

As of right now the league is hopeful to have a formal announcement regarding their new franchises and locations of them at the end of February.

There are currently 23 teams in the WSHL.